US Labor Board files plaint against Tesla for interference in union activities

The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against Tesla over charges that the company engaged in coercion and interference over employees' union activities at its Fremont, California, plant.

In complaint filed yesterday, the NLRB has listed several instances in which it alleged it had determined Tesla tried to interfere with union creation activities by employees at the company's Fremont, California car factory. The development was first reported by Buzzfeed.

According to a number of workers at the factory, they are forced to work long hours for low pay in dangerous working conditions, with workers subject to long- and short-term injuries.

The United Auto Workers has been fighting to organise at Tesla and some other companies after several years of stalled efforts.

These include Nissan plants where UAW has been fighting since 1989, a battle with Volkswagen at its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, since 2009 and Tesla's plant in California, which the union has been working to organise since at least 2013.

Tesla said the filings were baseless, and called UAW's actions and tactics an attempt to demonise the company, due to the failure of the union to gain traction in Fremont and elsewhere.

In April, when Tesla employees interested in unionising claimed they were being illegally intimidated, Tesla dismissed the allegations as "entirely without merit."

National Labor Relations Board, however, disagreed and yesterday, the Oakland regional office of the NLRB filed a complaint against Tesla, after finding merit in the employee's charges of coercion and interference.

The UAW in February filed four separate charges with the National Labor Relations Board alleging Tesla had coerced factory workers attempting to distribute information about the union drive.

The NLRB complaint noted that security guards asked the employees distributing leaflets to produce employee ID badges, and told them to leave the premises.

NLRB regional director Valerie Hardy-Mahoney, wrote the agency determined that Tesla ''has been interfering with, restraining and coercing employees in the exercise of their rights.''